


Like Herding Cats

by NepetaLeijon27



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Cats, Fluff, Fun, Gen, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21835153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NepetaLeijon27/pseuds/NepetaLeijon27
Summary: You were prepared for anything when you woke up, except for this.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	Like Herding Cats

'Haruto. Come here. This is an emergency.' Reni's voice reverberates through his office as he makes a quick call. In no time, the young boy arrives in front of him. 

'I came as soon as you called. What's the matter?'

'Good.', Reni pauses and clears his throat. 'The Mankai Company is taking away more than half of our usual revenue ever since those two traitors joined it. We have to do something.'

'Like what?'

'Haruto, I didn't call you here so that I had to trust you. In fact, I already have something.', Reni opens the book on his desk, on a page he had marked earlier. Haruto leans forward to see it, too. 'Look at this. As you know, this is the Compendium of the history of the God Troupe and its theater. I was reading through it recently and then came across this. Doesn't that look interesting?' Reni points at a certain passage and gives Haruto a bit of time to read it.

'Do you really think something like that is here?'

'Yes, otherwise I wouldn't mention it.', Reni sighs, rolling his eyes. 'If we could use this, they'll be gone in no time, and we will rise again!'

'Still.', Haruto laughs as he says that. 'That sounds stupid.'

'Haruto!'

'Okay, okay.', Haruto faints obedience. 'Understood.'

* * *

As the red numbers on the display of your alarm clock burn themselves into your sleep-deprived eyes, you sigh deeply. 09:34. 

'I have to get up...now...' 

You gather all your courage and reluctantly get out of bed. '...what to choose today...' You idly think that you could just wear the same clothes as yesterday and no one would notice. However, you remember that the weatherman said that it would get colder on the news the previous evening. 'Hmmm...' You decide to go with the same thing as yesterday, but with a vest over it. That way, you hope to be ready for today.

As you walk down the stairs, you think about what to do this day. The dinner for tonight is already decided as long as you're here - curry. '...I wonder who's already up by now...' you think as you enter the living room. But...

'...no one here?' 

You look around in the room, but it is in the exact same state as yesterday. 'Hmm. Everyone must still be asleep then. Strange. Usually, Omi is already up by now...as is Tsuzuru...' 

Deciding that you can't do much here, you go back upstairs. '...Who should I check on first?' After all, you have gathered a huge 'crowd' filled with young men. 'Hmm. Maybe it's the best to go check on Banri and Juza. They are two of the largest troublemakers after all.' 

And so, you knock on the door of their room. You expect to hear an annoyed mumble or a 'Get out', but none of that happens. 'I'm coming in!' you shout, and then open the door. 

Of all things you think possible, it is certainly not this.

'Banri? Juza?' 

Instead of the two young men, two cats are in the room. One of them has exactly the same shade in its fur as Banri's hair, and the other is dark blue (?) with black tips. They look like they've fought a bit, although not rough.

'You...', Wanting to string together a sentence, you speak up, but you don't come any further than that. 'Where are you? These cats...?' Slowly, you feel a dark cloud above your head growing larger and larger. _Oh no_. Your eyes go bright and then run out of the room. 

You try another door, and by now, you don't mind which one. You push it open and immediately notice that this is Kazunari and Muku's room. 'Muku? Kazunari?'

And your worst fear becomes reality - there are another two cats in the room. One of them is light pink (?) with folded ears, and the other is sandy-colored. They both run towards you while meowing loudly. 'Hey, you...' Initially, you think they're headed for you, but then you see that the other two cats have followed you when you left the door open. 'Oh...'

Not wanting to leave the other, presumably cat-turned young men in their rooms, you open their doors one by one. 'This can't be true...the entire Mankai Company...cats...'

You're still very distraught when you go down the stairs a second time, this time followed by a large flock consisting of twenty cats. But this time, someone is already downstairs. 

'Matsukawa! Thank God!'

'Oh, director you're here! Where did you get all those cats from?'

You scratch the back of your head. 'Uhhh...I've found them in the rooms...I don't know why, but overnight, everyone except me, you and probably Kamekichi has been turned into a cat.'

As you utter the name of the Mankai Company's avian mascot, a crippling realization dawns. 'Oh, god, Kamekichi...'

'But where are all the actors? We can't be a theatre company if-'

You cut off Matsukawa's sentence and gesture to the cats. 'Don't you get it? These _are_ our actors! We can't just leave them stray! Matsukawa, go and buy ten bags full of cat food, a birdcage, twenty collars, twenty food and water bowls, and twenty litter boxes at the nearest pet shop, all on expense of the Mankai Company! I absolutely can't leave! I'll write it down for you so you don't have to remember that all by yourself!' 

'Y-yes!' 

* * *

After sending Matsukawa off with the list, you turn back to handling the cats. Masumi is very clingy and whenever you walk, you think you're going to trip because he's so close to you. Banri and Juza are still fighting like they did before, but you think you're kind of lucky you can't hear their insults to each other. Misumi is happy with his increased agility and you have to keep him from getting hurt. Despite that, some of them are relatively easy to handle - Hisoka is still sleeping a lot (so basically very few has changed), and you've left Tsumugi in the garden, which looks like he is doing just fine.

Just then, someone frantically rings the doorbell. 'Coming, coming!' _That can't be Matsukawa. Otherwise they wouldn't be ringing_. You quickly drop Homare and open the door. 

'Sakoda!' you exclaim when you see that the mafioso is standing in front of you.

'Boss lady! I can't find aniki anywhere! Please help me!' His voice is doing serious damage to your ears.

'Oh, come in.', you say calmly as to hide your inner panic. 'He's in here.'

'But-' Sakoda shuts up all by himself as he decides to just follow you inside. You close the door behind him as he has time to assess the situation.

'Aah!' His hands fly to his mouth like scared birds by the sight of twenty cats in the living room.

'Yeah...', you say and shrug. You pick up a light cream-colored cat and carefully hand him over to Sakoda. 'Here's 'aniki'.' 

'Oh god...', Sakoda's expression looks as if thousand thoughts are running wild through his head. 'Aniki...' he laments with a voice that sounds like he's about to cry.

'Anyway, now you're here...', You casually begin to convince him into helping you. 'Would you mind helping me...herding cats? Like, for real? At least you get to see aniki again.' 

'Anything for you, boss lady!' 

That goes surprisingly easy, you think, while you see that Sakoda is gently petting Sakyo now, who doesn't look like he likes it in particular. You can hear him mumbling things like 'My aniki turned into a cat...'

'What do I do, what do I do...' you think as you sit on the sofa surrounded by cats. Masumi is on your lap, purring happily. It is a nice contrast to all worries you have, you realize. 'Hey, Masumi...' you whisper as you slowly pet him. That makes him purr even louder, it turns out. And before you know it, you totally forget about everything you were worrying about before. You see that Sakoda has completely passed out in the lounge chair, Sakyo still on his lap.

'Hey! That...'

A thought strikes you as lighting on a clear day. 'Sakoda! Wake up!' you shout, scaring Masumi, who jumps away. You don't mind, because Sakoda is awake now. 

'What's the matter?'

'I was just thinking...', you start. 'I have an idea! Listen up...' You come close to him and whisper it in his ear. Then...

'Ooh, that is genius, boss lady! Awesome! So now, we'll just wait for Matsukawa to come back, right?'

'Yeah, we will. I would rather send someone else, but you weren't here yet, so...'

'Got it. In the meantime...Sakoda?' He has turned to the cat flock again.

* * *

After half an hour, Matsukawa comes back. 'Matsukawa! That took pretty long!' you shout. 'And where's the stuff?'

'It's coming!', he pants. 'Look there.' He points behind him. 

'Oh...?'

In front of the Mankai Theater, a huge truck has stopped. 'I couldn't carry the stuff all by myself, so...'

'Okay...?', You walk up to the staff, and one of them gives you the papers. 'Let's see...Matsukawa, you really got all the stuff!' you say as you sign them. 

'Well, I just showed them the paper...'

'Still.' You cross your arms. 'Get out the bird cage first. We have to ensure Kamekichi's safety first.'

Some time later, everything is unpacked and loaded. 'Oof...where do we place all this stuff?' 

'Lucky for you, Matsukawa, I already figured that out.', You wink at him. 'Place the litter boxes in the practice room for now. I can put the food in the cabinets. The hanging ones. Cats ain't got opposable thumbs, so even Misumi won't be able to get it.'

'Okay!'

When Matsukawa does like you told him, you place the birdcage in the hall. 'What are you doing?'

'Ah, Kamekichi.', You intend on making this quick. 'There you go.' You pick him up from your shoulder and place him in the birdcage, then close the door fast. He is screaming and whatnot, but you know it's for his own safety. Then, you walk back to whatever Matsukawa is doing. 

'Hey, uh, Matsukawa...' 

'Yes?' He doesn't even look at you, but you know that he heard you and is listening.

'I had an idea as to how to turn this situation around.', you move your index finger to your lips. 'We, eh, may have to make a quick call for Yuzo and Tetsuro to come, but that's most of it.'

'What do you want Tetsuro and Yuzo for? We can't make a set now, you know. Let alone that we can act.'

'Not for that.', you laugh. 'Sakoda is also here and he agreed with my plan too. So, listen...'

'...'

'...!'

You smile. 'That sounds great, right?'

'It does! When I'm done with all this, I'll directly make the call! Thank you!'

'Well, I'm thankful I got the idea...'

'Don't deprecate yourself so much!', Matsukawa laughs. 'That's our director!'

'Don't mention it.'

* * *

A few weeks in the future, but not many...

'I haven't heard anything from the Mankai Company. It's been closed for a while.', Reni has called Haruto to his office again. 'But now suddenly, you say there's a newspaper article featuring Tachibana's daughter?'

'Yes. Here it is.' Haruto hands him the newspaper over, folded at the page of the article. 

'Hmm. Let's see...'

* * *

### Director of the Mankai Company transforms theatre into curry restaurant with twenty cats to meet!

_from our reporter_

**Veludo Way** \- Three weeks ago, director of the Mankai Company Tachibana Izumi woke up to a great shock. As she got ready for the day, the dorm was strangely empty. 'It turned out that everyone except for me and the manager had been turned into cats, believe it or not.', Tachibana tells us about that fateful morning. 'But soon, I got used to it. I still have no idea how it is possible, but honestly, I don't care.'

After the surprise died down, Tachibana was left in worry about the future of her theatre company. However, that very same day, she was struck by a bout of inspiration - it would be the start of a very strange, but weirdly funny adventure. 'Curry has always been one of my passions.', she says. 'And I was going to eat it for dinner anyway. I realized that the mere presence of a cat tends to calm people down, at least, the non-allergic ones, haha.' 

Tachibana expects that the restaurant will open this very week. The company has kept it a secret for a while, but according to Tachibana, it is now open to the public. 'We wanted to be sure that everything is in order. Knowing Mankai's following, spreading the message shortly before our opening is a breeze. Said opening will be happening this friday, and anyone can come. Consider it a way to get close to your favorite actors in a different manner than you used to!' 

* * *

'I _told_ you it was a stupid idea.' Haruto jabs at Reni once he is done reading it. 

'Shut up.' Reni sighs. The scream that follows that, is hearable from the moon.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/62597079.


End file.
